Sawyer Is Awesome

4 out of 5 stars

Carbon is the second book in the Watcher series by AJ Eversley and it jumps in right where Watcher left off. We are following Sawyer as she is trying to learn to control herself, her new body, and her emotions. The intro to the story has us following them to the United Isles which is where I thought that Eversley’s writing really shined. As she was describing the shore where they landed, the people, the houses, and the castle I felt like I was taken to another world. The setting, while drastically different from Watcher, was still one of the strong points of this book.

Understanding that this is a YA dystopian book I go into it expecting a few things. Love interests and sometimes triangles are going to be there. Young men and women who don’t completely understand their bodies, emotions, and hormones will also usually be in play. Carbon has all of those things but doesn’t feel like it’s falling for the same typical tropes as well. I was chatting with Paul from Audiobook Reviewer and I told him that I felt like I knew/understood where the love interest was going to go but I actually had no idea how the book and the main story was going to end. I was genuinely surprised by the ending.

Another strong suit of Eversley is her actual storytelling. She jumps around a bit but it’s so that you can see the story from both sides. You get to know Sawyer and all of her goings on (princess, Max, etc) but then we jump to Coleman and his minions. Seeing it from both sides doesn’t always help you guess or figure out what is going to happen. There were numerous times where things were said that I thought “Woah!”

Having a dual narration for each “side” of this issue helped with the back and forth as well. As I believe I mentioned in my original review I thought that Chelsea Stephens absolutely kills it in her narration of Sawyer – she just is Sawyer and it’s perfect. Steve Campbell’s voicing of the “bad guys” in this was perfect. He has a deeper (but still young sounding voice) that I think lends itself not only to this story but to YA in general.

Overall, I thought that Carbon was good but not great. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There were some typical YA themes within, but if you’re a fan of other books in this genre with strong female leads – you will not be disappointed by this series.

4-stars is nothing to scoff at and I’m genuinely waiting for the third book to come out on audio. Eversley, Stephens, and Campbell give us a sneak peek at book 3 at the end of Carbon’s audiobook – but I skipped it hoping to enjoy it beginning to end in early 2019.

Looking at the cover again and re-thinking about the first two books. I could see a younger Mila Kunis playing Sawyer. This has nothing to do with my review – I just wanted to point it out if this ever becomes a movie! 🙂

“I’ve lost everything - my humanity, the man I loved - but I won’t let them win. I will not give up and I will fight back…because I made a vow and I intend to keep it.”

Sawyer spent most of her life hunting the very thing she has now become. No longer the Watcher she once was, Sawyer struggles to make sense of her new identity. Though she has new powers and abilities, she is also tied to the control that comes with those powers.

Desperate for help and answers, Sawyer travels to the United Isles with Max in search of an ally. Not only must she learn to harness her new abilities, she must find a way to mend a broken heart. Help comes in unexpected ways, and though she is ready to fight back, it's not going to be easy.

Strangers will become allies. Lovers will become enemies. And a destiny formed before birth unfolds.

The epic journey continues, and the war for the human race draws ever closer. Join the resistance in the next chapter of the Watcher series.

I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’ve loved reading since I was little when my dad would read me Dr. Suess books. Fast-forward a little and I noticed that he was always reading on his lunch breaks at work, and I wondered why.Then, I found a book that took me to another place and time, to another feeling,another sense of “being”.It was the first book that I ever fell in love with, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.